Barriers to the Development of Ecotourism Resorts Tourism in Saravan Rural Heritage Museum, Iran

Tourism in the third millennium has become one of the most thriving economic activities around the world, and many developmental planners and policymakers refer to tourism as the main pillar for sustainable development. Tourism is considered as one of the most complicated occupations in numerous countries worldwide and as a multi-aspect activity possessing various positive effects and utilizations. The philosophy behind ecotourism resorts in Iran is to rehabilitate the local society’s culture, aiding the local businesses with minor investment to empower the local and rural community, and create sustainable development in Iran’s tourism cycle. The purpose of the present study is to determine factors impeding the development of ecotourism resorts tourism in Saravan rural heritage museum in Iran. The data were derived from interviews with key informants. For this purpose, the research question is what are the most important challenges for the development of tourism in the Saravan rural heritage museum and what are its sustainable strategies? The research subjects were tourism experts and university lecturers Having examined journalist reviews and executive expert reports, 16 factors were selected as the key challenges for the rural heritage museum.  Next, the Dematel method was used in order to analyze data and rank the factors. The results derived from the Dematel analysis indicates that lack of integrated and effective management of rural heritage museum (1.43), waste recycling and herbal and animal habitat devastation management (0.78), local residents and tourist culture differences (0.65) are the main factors in creating challenges for the rural heritage museum. Eventually, using the journalists’ reviews and the Delphi model, the most effective solutions have been designated and graded utilizing the Shannon entropy model. The results indicate that the most important solutions include effective integrative settling management and planning for local society cooperation, also conducing strategic programs for Saravan rural heritage museum.